The Best Music Composers of Film History

Born on February 10, 1929, Jerry Goldsmith studied piano with Jakob Gimpel and composition, theory, and counterpoint with Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. He also attended classes in film composition given by Miklós Rózsa at the Univeristy of Southern California. In 1950, he was employed as a clerk typist in the music department at CBS...

John Howard Carpenter was born in Carthage, New York, to mother Milton Jean (Carter) and father Howard Ralph Carpenter. His family moved to Bowling Green, Kentucky, where his father, a professor, was head of the music department at Western Kentucky University. He attended Western Kentucky University and then USC film school in Los Angeles...

A classmate of director Sergio Leone with whom he would form one of the great director/composer partnerships (right up there with Eisenstein & Prokofiev, Hitchcock & Herrmann, Fellini & Rota), Ennio Morricone studied at Rome's Santa Cecilia Conservatory, where he specialized in trumpet. His first film scores were relatively undistinguished...

The pioneering German collective Tangerine Dream has been delivering their distinctive style of ambient music for nearly three decades, laying down a foundation of sound textures and sonic imagery that has influenced many of today's electronic musicians. Founded in 1967 by fine art aficinado Edgar Froese the group released their first album...

The man behind the low woodwinds that open Citizen Kane, the shrieking violins of Psycho, and the plaintive saxophone of Taxi Driver was one of the most original and distinctive composers ever to work in film. He started early, winning a composition prize at the age of 13 and founding his own orchestra at the age of 20...

Film composer Harry Manfredini specialises in writing for horror films, but is also a song writer and jazz soloist. From his haunting dramatic scores for The Friday the 13th films, to his adventurous music for The Omegma Code, Harry Manfredini has established himself as a motion picture music composer of the same style as Bernard Herrmann...

Composer Christopher Young was born on April 28, 1957 in Red Bank, New Jersey. After graduating from Hampshire College in Massachusetts with a Bachelor of Arts degree in music, Young went on to pursue his post-graduate studies at North Texas State University. Christopher moved to Los Angeles, California in 1980...

Born in Burano (Venice) in 1941, Pino Donaggio studied violin at the Conservatory of Venice and Milan. After a period of adolescent performer of classical music with the Solisti Veneti and the Soloists of Milan, in 1959 he began to devote himself to the pop music that soon led to international success...

He studied piano and harmony at Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome. In 1957 he started playing light music, being the pianist of important singers such as Rita Pavone. In USA he studied jazz with Dave Brubeck. In 1966 he was called by Cam to compose his first soundtrack: The Bounty Killer, a film directed by Tomas Milian...

Simon Boswell was born in London, UK on October 15th, 1956. He is a film composer with more than 90 films to his credit. At seventeen Simon went to Pembroke College in Cambridge to study English Literature. Already an accomplished guitarist, and whilst still at college, he was signed by Transatlantic Records in 1975...

Rick Wakeman's work on the classic albums of the progressive rock band Yes, his hugely successful solo albums, as well as his contributions to classic David Bowie songs, has earned him a reputation as one of rock's greatest ever keyboardists. Wakeman was educated at Drayton Manor County Grammar School...

As Danny Elfman was growing up in the Los Angeles area, he was largely unaware of his talent for composing. It wasn't until the early 1970s that Danny and his older brother Richard Elfman started a musical troupe while in Paris; the group "Mystic Knights of Oingo-Boingo" was created for Richard's directorial debut...

Talented, prolific and versatile film composer Charles Bernstein was born on February 28, 1943 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He conducted his own orchestral music at age sixteen and studied composition with Vitorio Giannini and Vincent Persichetti at Juilliard. Bernstein also attended the University of California; he received an Outstanding Graduate of the College Award...

Alan Howarth's high school and college days took place in Cleveland, Ohio. Playing music in local rock bands, he opened for national touring acts including "The Who", and "Cream". He then began to create original music in bands "Braino" and "Pi Corp, utilizing synthesizers to make electronic music. He was invited to provide synthesizer support for fusion jazz band...

Jack Eric Williams was a promising composer, lyricist, actor, and teacher who is most remembered for creating the role of Beadle Bamford in the original Broadway production of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd. In addition to his work as a performer, he wrote many scores for the theatre, including incidental and dance music...

“ Shame he didn't get to go on to score other filmsbecause I thought he did a good job scoringRomano Scavolini's Nightmare (1981).Only film to his credit. ” - bigrudedogg87

Howard Shore is a Canadian composer, born in Toronto. He was born in a Jewish family. He started studying music when 8-years-old, and played as a member of bands by the time he was 13-years-old. He was interested in a professional career in music as a teenager. He studied music at the Berklee College of Music, a college of contemporary music located in Boston...

Elmer Bernstein was educated at the Walden School and New York University. He served in the US Army Air Corps in World War II. A prolific and respected film music composer, he was a protégé of Aaron Copland, who studied music with Roger Sessions and Stefan Wolpe. Bernstein worked in various artistic endeavors...

Extremely talented, prolific and versatile composer Brad Fiedel was born on March 10, 1951 in New York City. His mother was a dancer and his father was a composer and musician. Brad started out as a keyboardist for Hall & Oates. Fiedel first began composing music for movies in the mid-70s for such low-budget pictures as The Astrologer...

Modern-day classical music composer Richard Einhorn was born in 1952. In 1975 Einhorn graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Columbia University, where he studied composition and electronic music with Jack Beeson, Vladimir Ussachevsky, and Mario Davidovsky. In 1977 Richard produced a Meredith Monk album for Wergo Records...

Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Glass worked in his father's radio store and discovered music listening to the offbeat Western classical records customers didn't seem to want. He studied the violin and flute, and obtained early admission to the University of Chicago. After graduating in mathematics and philosophy...

Keith Emerson died on 11 March 2016 in Santa Monica, California, of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. According to Emerson's girlfriend Mari Kawaguchi, Emerson had become "depressed, nervous and anxious" because nerve damage had hampered his playing, and he was worried that he would perform poorly at upcoming concerts and disappoint his fans.

From his days as one of the pioneering icons of electronic music to his current status as a world-renowned legendary film composer, Mark Isham continues to be one of the most prolific and provocative artists on the scene. His gift for creating unforgettable melodies and his love of fresh, innovative sonic palettes have earned Isham many awards including a Grammy...

Canadian composer and songwriter Paul Zaza started out as a classically trained pianist. Zaza has a degree from the prestigious Toronto Conservatory of Music. Moreover, Paul played bass in a Canadian touring company production of the hit musical "Hair" and toured with the The 5th Dimension in the 1970s...

John Murphy is a British film composer from Liverpool. He began composing music scores for films in the early 1990s, working on several successful British movies, enjoying particular success with the soundtracks to Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) and Snatch (2000). Since 2000, Murphy has been based in Los Angeles...

Brian May rates highly as one of the best film music composers in the history of Australian cinema. May's scores are distinguished by their full, rich and supremely melodic orchestration. Brian was born on July 28, 1934 in Adelaide, South Australia. He studied as a pianist, violinist and conductor at the Adelaide Elder Conservatorium...

As one of the best known, awarded, and financially successful composers in US history, John Williams is as easy to recall as John Philip Sousa, Aaron Copland or Leonard Bernstein, illustrating why he is "America's composer" time and again. With a massive list of awards that includes over 41 Oscar nominations (five wins)...

German-born composer Hans Zimmer is recognized as one of Hollywood's most innovative musical talents. He featured in the music video for The Buggles' single "Video Killed the Radio Star", which became a worldwide hit and helped usher in a new era of global entertainment as the first music video to be aired on MTV (August 1, 1981)...

In over thirty years as a film composer, Alan Silvestri has blazed an innovative trail with his exciting and melodic scores, winning the applause of Hollywood and movie audiences the world over. Born in Manhattan in 1950, Alan was first drawn to music at an early age. Beginning as a drummer, his love for instruments quickly grew to include the bassoon...

Michael Giacchino is an American composer of music for films, television and video games. Giacchino composed the scores to the television series Lost, Alias and Fringe, the video game series Medal of Honor and Call of Duty and many films such as The Incredibles (2004), Star Trek (2009), Up (2009), Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)...

James Newton Howard attended the University of Southern California's music school, but dropped out to tour with Elton John, and eventually compose music for film and television. He started with Head Office in 1985. He has been nominated for eight Academy Awards. He currently is a songwriter, record producer, conductor, keyboardist, and film composer.

John Barry was born in York, England in 1933, and was the youngest of three children. His father, Jack, owned several local cinemas and by the age of fourteen, Barry was capable of running the projection box on his own - in particular, The Rialto in York. As he was brought up in a cinematic environment...

Graeme Revell was born in New Zealand in 1955. He was graduated from The University of Auckland with degrees in economics and politics. He is a classically trained pianist and French horn player. Revell worked for as a regional planner in Australia and Indonesia and as an orderly in an Australian psychiatric hospital...

Vangelis is a composer and performer who works almost exclusively with electronic instruments. He is probably most well known for his Chariots of Fire and Blade Runner soundtracks or for the tracks used in the Cosmos television series. He has been involved in many musical collaborations, most famously with Jon Anderson.

John Debney's career seemed destined for Hollywood, the son of Disney Studios producer Louis Debney, John grew up in nearby Glendale, California where he got early inspiration for film and music growing up on the Disney Studio lot. The child of two musicians, John showed an early aptitude for music and began guitar lessons at age six...

In his 25 year career, David Newman has scored over 100 films, ranging from War of the Roses, Matilda, Bowfinger and Heathers, to the more recent The Spirit, Serenity, and Alvin and the Chipmonks: The Squeakuel. Newman's music has brought to life the critically acclaimed dramas Brokedown Palace and Hoffa; top-grossing comedies Norbit...

New York-songwriter and film composer, Alan Menken is best known for his unforgettable music for Disney movies like Calypso music of The Little Mermaid, the tale as old as time of Beauty and the Beast, the Arabian tale Aladdin or the beloved song Colors of the Wind from Pocahontas just to name a few...

Elliot Goldenthal is an Academy Award-winning composer best known for his original music scores for such films as Frida and Across the Universe, among his other works. He was born on May 2, 1954, in Brooklyn, New York. His father was a house-painter, and his mother was a seamstress. Young Goldenthal was fond of music and theatre...

Basil Poledouris was born on August 21, 1945 in Kansas City. He started taking piano lessons when he was 7 years old. Eventually, he went on to become a student at USC, where he studied the arts of directing, cinematography, editing, sound and, of course, music. It was also at USC he met John Milius and Randal Kleiser...

Prolific and versatile musician Donald Geoffrey Peake was born on June 7, 1940 in Los Angeles, California. Peake began his long and distinguished music career in 1961 as a lead guitarist for the Everly Brothers. Don holds the distinction of being the first white guitarist to play with the Ray Charles Orchestra...

David Alexander Hess was born in New York City in 1936. He began his professional career as a songwriter for Shalimar Music, in 1957, under the pseudonym of David Hill. His first recording was a quick hit, which was later performed by and credited to Elvis Presley, "All Shook Up." David went on to compose "Start Movin'" for Sal Mineo and "Rockin' Shoes" for the The Ames Brothers...

“ As well was a legendary actor of suchfilms the original Last House on the Left,Hitch Hike, House on the Edge of the Parkand Swamp Thing. ” - bigrudedogg87

2 Time EMMY Award winning composer Trevor Morris is a dual Citizen of Canada and Great Britain, living and working in Los Angeles. Trevor composes music for Feature Film, Television and Video Games. He is most recognized for his Television work on "The Tudors", "The Borgias" and "Vikings". As well as such feature films as "London Has Fallen"...

Wendy Carlos, one of the great innovators in synthesized and electronic music, was born as Walter Carlos in Rhode Island on November 14, 1939. She underwent a sex-change operation in 1972, details of which she revealed during a surprise Playboy interview in 1979. Walter's last credited release is "Sonic Seasonings" (1972)...

Steve Boeddeker joined Skywalker Sound in 1995 as an assistant sound designer for The Frighteners and Mars Attacks! He began his career in sound creating high end audio libraries for digital sampling keyboards at companies such as Emu, Akai and Roland. He did freelance CD mastering and was a professional products manager for Digidesign/AVID...

Born in Rome, he studied composition at the Neapolitan Conservatory "S. Pietro a Majella" under the direction of M° Achille Longo then proceeded to study orchestra direction at the Chigiana Academy in Siena with Paul Van Kempen and Franco Ferrara. He also graduated in horn, after having studied with Domenico Ceccarossi...

Long before he cemented himself as a highly sought-after composer, guitarist, songwriter, and record producer, Tyler Bates resided in a haunted rural Illinois log cabin ranch previously owned by none other than Al Capone. Between two exorcisms on the property and an "odd" job unwittingly digging graves...

Born in Milan in 1911 into a family of musicians, Nino Rota was first a student of Orefice and Pizzetti. Then, still a child, he moved to Rome where he completed his studies at the Conservatory of Santa Cecilia in 1929 with Alfredo Casella. In the meantime, he had become an 'enfant prodige', famous both as a composer and as an orchestra conductor...

Mainetti, born in Rome, Italy, August 8th 1957. After studying classical guitar attended Santa Cecilia Conservatory of Rome where he earned a Bachelor of Music, summa cum laude in Composition. He studied Conducting with Cesare Croci and Ennio Nicotra and holds a 1st class honours Master of Music in Film Scoring degree...

Richard Howard Band (born December 28, 1953 in Los Angeles, CA) is an American composer of film and television music. He has scored more than 80 films, including From Beyond which won the award for Best Original Soundtrack at the Sitges - Catalan International Film Festival. His score for Re-Animator was lauded by the magazine Music From the Movies...

Robert O. Ragland is one of the most prolific music composers in the film industry. Originally from Chicago, Ragland gave up a comfortable executive position in advertising to gamble on his musical talents in Hollywood. Since that decision made in 1968, Ragland has made his impressive presence known in the film community by scoring over 50 motion pictures in a span of nearly thirty years...

James Horner began studying piano at the age of five, and trained at the Royal College of Music in London, England, before moving to California in the 1970s. After receiving a bachelor's degree in music at USC, he would go on to earn his master's degree at UCLA and teach music theory there. He later completed his Ph.D...